The Impact of Ideologies on the Translator’s Work: A Conceptual Reflection and Application

This paper addresses the translator’s role from an ideological standpoint and seeks to show that the actions of translators are not completely arbitrary and may be influenced by a wide array of factors and especially ideologies. The basic assumption is that translators can detach texts neither from the ideologies of the source nor the target culture. This study results from qualitative research, namely a critical conceptual analysis of the selected theories of translation studies (Baker, 2006; Lefevere, 1992; Venuti, 1995). The conceptual reflection implies that translations serve as an infinite source of culture and history, serving the target but not the source culture. The critical discourse analysis of English translations of two selected novels that contain the ideologies of socialist and post-socialist era, and the Nazi ideology, suggests that the tendencies in translation strategies vary depending on diffusion of the languages, and awareness of the target culture and history.

Love and Duty: Translating Films and Teaching Online Through a Pandemic

The Chinese Film Classics project, launched in 2020, is an online research and teaching initiative aimed at making early Chinese films and cinema history more accessible to the general public. Led by Christopher Rea at the University of British Columbia, the project is centered on the website http://chinesefilmclassics.org and the companion YouTube channel Modern Chinese Cultural Studies. These two platforms together host new English translations of over two dozen Republican-era Chinese films, over two hundred film clips organized into thematic playlists, and a free online course of video lectures on Chinese film classics. This essay tells the story of how the Chinese Film Classics project grew from being a book project into a multiplatform translation, teaching, and publication project during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online teaching and social media publication involved multiple global storytellers: filmmakers, educators, translators, students, and the broader Internet public. How might moving things online change, or improve, the practice of cultural history? Rea highlights in particular the practical considerations facing the translator and gives examples of how, in a social media context, some of the stories are told not by creators and audiences but by data analytics.

Semantic and Pragmatic Implications of Inaccurate Translations of Shari’a-Court Phrases & Sentence Extracts into English

The present paper aims to highlight the semantic and pragmatic implications of the inaccurate English translations of Gazan shari’a-court phrases and sentence extracts. The researchers analyze the translations of five shari’a-court phrases and five sentence extracts from shari’a-court documents of different shari’a courts in Gaza Strip. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted to conduct this research paper. The texts used in this paper are extracted from a thesis on the linguistic difficulties Palestinian translators face when rendering shari’a-court terms in which the researchers participated as a master student and a supervisor. When selecting the source texts, the researchers consulted an assistant professor in law to identify the legal phrases and sentential extracts which require specific familiarity with shari’a-court terms. Then, the selected texts were given to four Palestinian sworn translators who rendered the translations which were afterwards analyzed by the researchers in light of explanations of the legal meaning of the shari’a-court terms by the law specialist. The findings of the selected translations, five phrases and five sentential extracts from fifty phrases and thirty-five sentential extracts in the original thesis, show that the inaccurate translations of shari’a-court terms have semantic and pragmatic implications which are mainly reflected in semantic loss and pragmatic ambiguity which lies in lack of specific reference to intended persons. The researchers recommend integrating specific contents in legal translation courses to better familiarize student translators and trainee translators with the semantic complexity of shari’a-court terms and the practical methods which can be adopted to translate such terms into English. Attention should also be given to the legal terms which are characterized by culture-based meanings.

In a strange other world. Urszula Kochanowska by Bolesław Leśmian translated into English

The article focuses on English translations of Bolesław Leśmian’s Urszula Kochanowska, especially those by Marian Polak-Chlabicz and Krzysztof Bartnicki. The author of the article aims to achieve a critical comparison between different translation strategies ventured to conquer the diffi culties associated with translating this verse, which is strongly connected with Polish culture and literature. The close-reading of the translations is accompanied by a short outline of Leśmian’s existence in English language along with an attempt to answer the question of whether translating his poetic language is at all possible or is Leśmian’s work an evident proof (as many critics say) of the phenomenon known as untranslatability.

The Role of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Translating Lesia Ukrainka’s Works into English

The article deals with the English translations of Lesia Ukrainka’s works. The author considers the new approaches to translation that emerged after the Cultural turn in the last part of the 20th century. In particular, the attention has been paid to the issues of migration and translation, negation of the Eurocentric ideas about translation, and translation as a constituent part for the formation of migrant’s community. Considering the chronology of the translation of Lesia Ukrainka’s works into English, it is argued that as a rule they were done by the Ukrainian diaspora and published in the periodicals, financed by the Ukrainian communities in Great Britain, the USA, and Canada. The most intensive phase of the popularization of poetess’s works in English happened to be during the middle of the last century. This could be explained by the nature of the third wave of migration, which occurred after World War II. This wave brought the highly politicized people, who tried to oppose the Soviet regime. They used literature to oppose the Soviet appropriation of the Ukrainian cultural heritage. Besides the Ukrainian diaspora have utilized the native fictional discourse to maintain the boundaries and consciousness of their collectivity.

Oriental Origins

This chapter shows how the subtle body concept as established by the Cambridge Platonists was carried forward in popular and literary domains and later used as a stock concept in the earliest English translations of Sanskrit texts. It takes the reader through the birth of Indology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tracing the subtle body concept through early translations of yoga and Sāṃkhya philosophy, focusing on how the authors posited historical connections between Neoplatonic and Hindu philosophies, laying the groundwork for future understandings of the subtle body as a concept spanning a great East-West divide.

Rondas (Singing Games)

Part 2: La Música (The Music) contains 90 joyful songs learned on playgrounds, in classrooms, and from families and teachers. The repertoire allows for musical play and movement, encourages lyrical improvisation, and fosters community. The collection is organized into three categories: Rondas (Singing games), Rimas y Juegos (Chants and games), and Canciones (Songs). Canciones, which comprises 51 songs, includes many pieces with accompanying actions as well as three religious songs and three in a Mayan language, Kaqchikel. La Musica includes song transcriptions, game or movement directions, English translations, informant and location citations, brief notes on song histories or performance practice, and illustrations by the Mayan artist Sucely Puluc. Field video, audio recordings, and additional song information on the companion website allow teachers and students to witness the songs in authentic contexts, demonstrate singing games, guide in pronunciation, and learn more about the history of the songs.

Variation in Spanish accounting terminology

The paper discusses the main results of an analysis of Spanish accounting terminology, based on the exploitation of three different corpora. The analysis was aimed at measuring the level of terminology variation in Spanish accounting and at assessing the suitability of accounting standards and companies’ financial statements for terminology extraction in the translation of accounting texts. The results evidence a terminological variation of around 25% in international accounting standards and a considerable lack of consistency in the use of accounting terminology in the financial statements of Spanish companies, both in the Spanish originals and in their English translations.